Mining is a skill that allows players to obtain ores and gems from rocks. With ores, a player can then either smelt bars and make equipment using the Smithing skill or sell them for profit. Mining is one of the most popular skills in RuneScape as many players try to earn a profit from the skill. On the map, mining areas are identified with a regular pickaxe icon and the mining shop with a gold pickaxe icon.

To mine, a player will first need a pickaxe. Upon locating a mine, the player can select a rock and left-click it to begin mining. As a player is mining a rock, they will eventually obtain an ore (or a gemstone). This ore can either be used in the Smithingskill or it can be sold.

Mining is a skill loosely reliant on a player's luck, which is random in RuneScape. Every mining cycle, there is a chance to succeed and obtain an ore. Using a higher-tier pickaxe can both increase mining speed and increase the chance of success when mining.

A player's Mining level determines the type of pickaxe they can mine with. The higher a level needed to use a pickaxe, the better it is than the ones below it. For example, a rune pickaxe will mine rocks faster than an adamant pickaxe.

Ores are obtained from the different types of rocks, usually found in mines. On the minimap, mines are labelled with a grey pickaxe. The colour of a rock corresponds to the ore's colour.

When players click on a rock, they will hit it with their pickaxe and try to get the ore out. The higher level rocks, such as mithril and adamantite, take longer for players to mine an ore out of them, making the player require patience.

After the ore has been mined, the rock will turn grey for a while. Eventually the ore will respawn and the rock will regain its colour. Players can only mine a rock when ore is available. Ore respawn times differ with the difficulty of the rock. For example, runite rocks take 12 minutes to respawn while iron rocks take about 3 seconds.

Pay-dirt can only be mined in the Motherlode Mine in the southern area of the Dwarven Mine. Can be cleaned using the machine in the centre of the mine. Ores received from this machine can range from coal to runite, depending on the player's mining level.

Mines are areas where players can mine their ores. These may be on the surface or underground and are scattered around Gielinor. Some of these locations are accessible only after certain quests are complete and some are members-only.

When mining players have a 1/256 chance of finding an uncut gem in the rock. A player's chances of finding gems are increased to 1/86 when wearing a chargedamulet of glory.[1] There also seems to be a positive correlation between a player's Mining level and the frequency of gems they receive while mining. In other words, the higher levelled the ore, the more likely it is to receive gems while mining it.

While mining, a rock golem may appear and will begin attacking a player. The combat level of the golem depends on the player's combat level, but it will always be stronger. The rock golem's combat level varies from level 14 to 170. The player can either kill it or run away from it. If a player kills a rock golem, it can drop ores, stouts, pickaxes, uncut gems or nothing.

When a player mines a rock, smoke or gas bubbles may emerge from it. If a player continues mining this rock as this is happening, the rock will explode, dealing minor damage to the player and destroying the head of their pickaxe. To repair it, for a price, players have to bring it to Nurmof, the dwarf who sells pickaxes in the Dwarven Mine.

While mining, the head of the player's pickaxe might fly off. The head will land somewhere nearby, usually 3 to 10 squares away. When this happens, the player has to find the pickaxe head quickly before someone else sees it and grabs it - who might attempt to extort it from them. When the player has found the pickaxe head, they can use it with their handle to put the pickaxe back together.

Also known as drop mining, this is where a player fills their inventory with ores, drops them all, and repeats. While this method of mining allows players to raise their Mining level quickly, dropping a whole inventory of ores can take some time (although this can be minimised by making use of shift-click dropping). Also, by using this method, a player would be missing out on Smithingexperience. Some locations useful for drop mining:

The first pair, Mining gloves, provides a chance for extra ore from Silver, Coal, and Gold. The second pair, Superior mining gloves, provide a chance for extra ore from Mithril, Adamantite, and Runite. After purchasing both pairs of gloves, the player can combine the gloves by talking to Belona.

As of 2014, Old School RuneScape has implemented a static respawn rate. This means that regardless of the population of a server most things will respawn as if there are 2,000 players in the world (ores, trees, etc).

Players are recommended to wear few items or nothing at all other than their pickaxe. Members can wear the weight-reducing clothing. Wearing fewer items allows a player to run longer, as less energy is spent while running at lower weight values.

For higher level rocks such as adamantite or runite, it is often faster to switch between worlds rather than waiting for the rocks to respawn. This is not recommended for lower level rocks as they respawn much faster.

There are 37 coal and 5 mithril rocks in the Mining Guild. It is a short walking distance away from a bank. Level 60 Mining is required to enter. There is one especially efficient place to mine, in the southeast corner, where there are 6 coal rocks in very close proximity. Mining mithril is not recommended in the guild unless there is no-one else at the rocks. An anvil is available outside of the guild in the north end of the mines. The anvil, in combination with the Superheat Item spell, allows the player to smith the ores they mine. The smithed items can be turned into coins with the High Level Alchemy spell or sold at the nearby shop avoiding trips to the bank.

Upon completing any of the following quests, players may choose to allocate experience to Mining. These rewards usually come in the form of items, such as lamps or books, and are independent of any experience rewards directly received for completing the quest.